IoT in Agriculture: How It Works, Use Cases, Sensors and Benefits

Simply turning on the water does not guarantee your plants receive what they need. This highlights the need for IoT in agriculture, as many farm decisions rely on fixed schedules, surface observations, or single manual readings. These methods do not accurately reflect the crop’s actual conditions. 

This guide outlines the fundamentals of IoT in agriculture, including how a complete farm IoT system operates, its measurable benefits, and key considerations for sensors and connectivity. It is informed by over a decade of TEKTELIC’s experience developing LoRaWAN® sensors and gateways for vineyards, orchards, vegetable growers, and greenhouses. 

What is IoT in agriculture? 

The application of IoT in agriculture (also referred to as smart farming or smart agriculture) involves using connected sensors and devices to gather data from fields, soil, crops, livestock and storage, transmitting this data wirelessly and then using it to make decisions regarding irrigation, fertilization, climate control and logistics.  

The sensors are located in the ground, on poles, in greenhouses and in coolers. The internet is a low-power wireless network which transmits their readings to a platform where growers, agronomists and automation systems take action on them.  

The aim is not to collect data merely for the sake of doing so; it is to substitute guesswork with evidence, that the water had reached the roots, evidence that a cold room remained cold, evidence that a block was drying faster than its neighbor. 

How IoT works on a farm 

A farm IoT system has four layers. Understanding them makes it far easier to evaluate vendors. 

1. Sensors in the field

Battery-powered devices measure physical conditions. In agriculture the most useful readings are: 

• Soil-water tension and soil temperature at one or more depths (what the roots feel) 

• Soil moisture content near the surface (how much water is in the ground) 

• Ambient temperature and humidity around the crop 

• Light (sunlight reaching the canopy) 

• Temperature, humidity, and movement in storage rooms, coolers and transport 

Good agricultural sensors are sealed (IP67), run for years on a battery, and survive the temperature swings of an open field. TEKTELIC’s KIWI, for example, reports soil tension and temperature from –20 °C to 60 °C and is rated for up to 11 years of battery life. 

2. Connectivity: why LoRaWAN fits agriculture 

Sensors need to send small packets of data over long distances, from places with no power and often no cellular coverage. LoRaWAN was designed for exactly this: 

• Range of several kilometers per gateway in open terrain, so one gateway can cover a large orchard or several vineyard blocks 

• Very low power, which is why a sensor can run for years without a battery change 

• No cellular contract per device, which keeps operating costs predictable at scale 

• Private or public networks — a grower can run their own gateway or use a regional operator 

3. Gateways

A LoRaWAN gateway receives readings from every sensor in range and forwards them to the network server over Ethernet, cellular or satellite backhaul. On a farm, the gateway is usually mounted on a pole, barn or silo. It has to survive outdoors: the TEKTELIC KONA Macro gateway, for instance, operates from –40 °C to +60 °C with built-in antennas for remote deployments. 

4. Platform and applications

The network server decrypts and routes the data to an application where it becomes useful: current conditions, historical trends, zone-by-zone comparisons, configurable alerts (for example, “deep probe still dry two hours after irrigation”) and exportable data for agronomic review. This is also where integrations with irrigation controllers and farm management software. 

IoT applications in agriculture 

Irrigation on crop demand 

This is where IoT pays back fastest. Most irrigation still runs on a timer. Two-depth root-zone monitoring answers the two questions every grower has — when should I start watering, and how long should I keep going? 

A single probe shows one spot. Two probes at different depths show how water moves down through the root zone: 

This is the difference between a water command and water proof. 

Soil moisture vs. soil-water tension  

A key distinction in sensor deployments: soil moisture indicates the amount of water in the soil, while soil-water tension measures the effort roots must exert to access it. The same moisture percentage can have different implications in sandy compared to clay soils. Tension, measured in kPa (typically 0–239 kPa for irrigation), reflects what plants experience and is preferred for vineyards and orchards. Surface moisture content is more suitable for turf, lawns, and shallow-rooted beds. 

Greenhouse and microclimate monitoring 

Ambient temperature, humidity, and light sensors let growers compare beds, rows, and zones, verify that irrigation reaches lower beds, and identify hot spots before plants are affected. 

Orchard and vineyard zone management 

Blocks vary by soil type, slope, and tree age. Placing sensors in each block lets growers tune irrigation zone by zone, balancing vine growth and fruit development while making sure water reaches established roots without unnecessary deep loss. 

Vegetables and nurseries 

Shallow root zones dry quickly. Monitoring at depths appropriate to the container, bed or root system catches drying before yields are affected and helps prevent nutrient loss from over-irrigation. 

Livestock monitoring and tracking 

Beyond the field, the same low-power network commonly carries data from: 

• Ear tags or collars that track body temperature and activity, used to flag early signs of illness, heat stress or estrus before they’re visible to a handler 

• Geofencing and location tracking, useful for open-range or rotational grazing where a physical fence isn’t practical or where strays and predators are a risk 

• Water-trough level sensors, which confirm animals actually have access to water and flag a failed float valve or pump before a herd goes thirsty 

• Feed-bin level sensors, which reduce the number of manual checks and prevent unplanned stockouts 

The appeal here is the same as with soil sensors: catching a problem — sickness, a dry trough, a broken fence — hours or days before it would otherwise be noticed. 

Equipment and asset tracking 

Tractors, pumps, generators and portable tools are expensive and easy to lose track of across a large property. LoRaWAN-based asset trackers can report: 

• Location and geofence alerts (useful for theft prevention on equipment left in remote fields) 

• Runtime hours, to plan maintenance around actual use rather than a calendar 

• Battery or fuel level on pumps and generators that aren’t checked daily 

This is generally a lighter-weight use case than soil or cold-chain monitoring, but it’s often added to an existing farm network at very little marginal cost once the gateway infrastructure is already in place. 

Weather stations and ambient monitoring 

A basic weather station — rainfall, wind speed, ambient temperature and humidity — gives context to every other reading on the network. It’s what turns “the deep probe is still dry” into “the deep probe is still dry, and there’s no rain forecast for four days,” which is the difference between a reading and a decision. 

Cold chain and post-harvest storage 

IoT applications extend well beyond the field. Temperature, humidity and movement sensors in storage rooms, coolers and transport vehicles monitor produce from harvest through processing. Devices with onboard storage, such as the Tektelic TUNDRA (which stores approximately 3,000 readings, or 125 days), keep logging when out of network range in a truck moving through a coverage gap, for example, and upload the backlog once reconnected. 

Water infrastructure beyond irrigation 

Tank and cistern level sensors, flow meters and pump-status sensors round out water management for operations that also need to track storage and delivery, not just what’s happening in the root zone. 

Grain and feed storage, and other facility monitoring 

Grain bins, feed rooms, and equipment sheds have their own version of the cold-chain problem: temperature and humidity swings that spoil stored product or damage equipment before anyone notices. The TEKTELIC COMFORT v2 is built for this kind of indoor facility monitoring. It reports temperature, humidity, and light in one compact, IP65-rated device, adds leak detection and motion/door sensing, and runs up to 11 years on a single battery. The same device fits equally well in a greenhouse potting shed, an equipment room, or a farm office, anywhere the question is “did the environment stay in range” rather than “what’s happening in the soil.” 

IoT in agriculture in practice: three real deployments 

Theory is straightforward, but practical application is more challenging. Below are three deployments where TEKTELIC KIWI and CLOVER sensors improved water management across different crops, environments and operational scales. 

1. Community gardens, USA — automated irrigation for urban plots

The volunteers who look after the urban community gardens have irregular availability, so the beds were either left without watering or watered too much. Surface-mount CLOVER sensors, which have prongs built into them, were put into the beds and sent data on soil moisture and temperature via a network of TEKTELIC KONA Micro gateways to an automated irrigation controller. The outcome was healthier plants, a great deal less manual work, and no water being used on beds that were already wet. This is a good example of how a small LoRaWAN deployment, consisting of a few sensors and a compact gateway is sufficient to automate irrigation on a garden scale. 

Read the case study → 

2. Watermelon and cabbage fields, Bulgaria — irrigation scheduling at commercial scale

A large-scale vegetable producer sought to determine whether irrigation was reaching the shallow, rapidly drying root zone of watermelon and cabbage fields. KIWI sensors provided real-time data on soil-water tension and temperature at two depths, along with environmental conditions. This enabled the farmer to schedule irrigation based on actual root conditions rather than a fixed calendar. The grower observed improved crop health and a measurable reduction in unnecessary water use. Most commercial growers follow this approach: they pilot the system on a specific area and expand after reviewing the data 

Read the case study → 

3. Botanical garden, Italy — precise watering for 300+ plant species

A botanical garden presents a unique challenge compared to monoculture fields, with hundreds of species requiring different water and climate conditions. KIWI sensors monitored soil and environmental conditions across zones, enabling staff to provide precise watering and balanced growing environments. This supported over 300 plant species without over-irrigating those that require drier conditions. 

 Read the case study → 

Every deployment was aimed at solving a specific operational problem and made use of targeted sensing to improve watering decisions. It began with a definite irrigation question, employed targeted sensors to collect the relevant data, and then modified the watering schedules in light of the results. This shows a practical way IoT can be applied in agriculture. 

Benefits of IoT in agriculture 

Lower water and input costs. Irrigating on measured demand rather than a schedule eliminates the two most common wastes: watering when the deeper roots are still supplied, and watering past the root zone so nutrients leach away. 

Fewer field visits. Remote LoRaWAN reporting replaces walking the property to take manual probe reads. Alerts bring people to the problem instead of on a rota. 

Better decisions, faster. Trends and zone comparisons show which blocks are drying fastest and whether a change in heat, humidity or sun has shifted what the crop needs today. 

Higher, more consistent yields. Controlled, deliberate watering supports the balance between vegetative growth and fruit development, and catches stress early enough to act. 

Less post-harvest loss. Continuous cold-chain records spot conditions drifting before they damage produce and provide the audit trail buyers increasingly ask for. 

Sustainability that can be documented. Water-use and energy data from sensors is exactly what certification schemes and lenders are asking growers to report. 

Challenges and what IoT in agriculture costs 

Connectivity in remote areas. Cellular coverage is often patchy in rural regions. LoRaWAN solves the last kilometres, but the gateway still needs backhaul (Ethernet, cellular or satellite). Plan gateway placement first. 

Sensor placement and interpretation. A soil probe placed in the wrong spot, at the wrong depth, or in soil that differs from the block it represents will produce confident, wrong data. Work with an agronomist on depth and location; two depths that match the crop’s active root zone is the usual starting point. 

Cost. A typical deployment has three cost lines: sensors (a few hundred dollars per site depending on probes and kit), one or more gateways, and the platform or network subscription. Because LoRaWAN devices carry no per-device cellular fee and run for years on a battery, the operating cost is low once installed. Most growers start with a pilot of 5–10 sites on a problem block and expand from there. 

Integration. Data is only valuable when someone acts on it. Confirm that the platform can push alerts to the people who make irrigation decisions, and that it exports data for agronomic review. 

Durability. Field devices face heat, frost, irrigation spray and machinery. Look for IP67 ratings, wide operating temperature ranges, and a vendor that designs and produces its own hardware rather than rebadging. 

What to look for in agriculture IoT sensors 

Use this checklist when comparing devices: 

• Measures what the plant feels — tension (kPa) for root-zone irrigation decisions, moisture content for surface conditions 

• Multiple depths in one device, so you see water movement rather than a single point 

• Soil plus sky — soil readings combined with ambient temperature, humidity and light, so you can see how weather is changing crop demand 

• Long battery life (multi-year) and IP67 sealing 

• Standard LoRaWAN so devices from different vendors work on the same network 

• Flexible kits — probe-free sensor bodies, single-depth, or full two-depth configurations, so you buy what each site needs 

• A sibling family for surface soil, cold chain, and environmental monitoring, so one network covers the whole operation

How TEKTELIC approaches IoT in agriculture 

TEKTELIC provides a complete LoRaWAN® ecosystem for agricultural operations, including purpose-built sensors, carrier-grade gateways, network-server capabilities, and applications for device and data management.  

The same infrastructure can support crop and soil monitoring, livestock management, greenhouses, grain and feed storage, farm equipment tracking, and machinery monitoring. This allows farms to begin with one priority use case and expand the system over time without building a separate network for every application. 

KIWI for root-zone monitoring 

An elevated-mount sensor that uniquely combines what is happening in the soil with what is happening in the sky: soil-water tension and temperature at two depths via external watermark and thermistor probes, plus ambient temperature, humidity, sunlight and sensor orientation, in a single device. Available as a sensor-only body (Kit 1), single-depth (Kit 2) or full two-depth monitoring (Kit 3).  

CLOVER for measuring surface soil moisture 

KIWI’s surface-mount sibling with built-in prongs that push straight into the ground, measuring moisture content and temperature plus sunlight. Quick to place, easy to maintain; ideal for turf, lawns, golf greens and gardens. 

TUNDRA for temperature and cold chain conditions control 

Tracks temperature, humidity and movement in storage rooms, coolers and transport. IP67 with multi-year battery life, an external probe range of –40 °C to +105 °C, and onboard storage for about 125 days of readings. 

KONA gateways for real-time operations

It’s built to carry every use case covered above, irrigation and soil sensors, cold-chain and facility monitoring, asset tracking, livestock housing — on a single deployment, and to keep carrying whatever gets added next. Because it’s outdoor-rated and low-power by design, a farm doesn’t have to re-architect connectivity each time a new category of device gets added; it extends the same network. 

STORK for mobile asset tracking 

A rugged outdoor/indoor tracker for vehicles, pallets and equipment, combining low-power GNSS with BLE and Wi-Fi scanning, 5+ years of battery life, and optional external power for fixed installations. 

PELICAN for asset tracking in difficult RF environments 

A LoRaWAN and BLE tracker built for equipment yards, storage facilities and multi-building sites, with an intelligent state machine that adapts reporting frequency to motion and up to 16+ years of battery life in tracker mode. 

COMFORT v2 for grain, feed and facility monitoring 

An IP65-rated device for temperature, humidity, light, leak and motion monitoring in grain bins, feed storage, greenhouses, barns and equipment rooms, with up to 11 years of battery life. 

BREEZE and BREEZE-V for indoor air quality 

Compact indoor sensors reporting CO₂, temperature, humidity, light and barometric pressure, ideal for enclosed livestock buildings where ventilation and air quality matter. BREEZE-V adds PIR motion detection for zone-level occupancy and activity. Both are rated IP30 and need protected indoor installation. 

Not sure which sensor fits? Let’s map it out. 

Tell us the crop, the soil and the decision you’re trying to make, and a TEKTELIC expert will recommend the right sensor family, kit and gateway layout. Contact us to get a free estimate on your IoT setup.